Reviews    Meatjack - Days of Fire (At A Loss Recordings)
by Chris Barnes

Meatjack have been creating sonic havoc since 1993 with a variety of 7"s, comp inclusions and even a turn in the soundtrack of John Water's movie Cecil B. Demented. Actually I dunno if they want anyone to know about the latter but at least the soundtrack was good. Finally, they got a shot at a full length with 1999's Trust - a chaotic homage to the musically intrepid and brain damaged. Or both.

While I liked Trust, it was dipped a little too much into the cool pool of cacophony for me. Wading in right to the applesack before deciding things were a little too out of sorts to actually dive right in and enjoy. With Days of Fire, the Daniloski brothers (with help from the phenomenal heavy handed time keeper, Mr. Charlie Baum) add a bit of melody to the agglomeration of frequency pummeling. Keep in mind, Days of Fire is still heavier than a cement truck in a rainstorm, but they mix it up, letting notes ring out and exploring more ethereal material such as in the amazing "Sea of Tranquility" or more darkly in the epic "Crawl".

The key to Meatjack is the tension... the use of minor chords, dread-inducing bass lines and the conservative but powerful use of percussion make you feel like you just turned down the wrong one-way street. And when the Daniloski boys bust in with a throat-searing vocal line, it's over. When the tension is finally resolved, as in midway through "Crawl" with the very "Kashmir"-ish effects, the end result is like being on a musical rollercoaster. The relief that the ride is actually over feels cool, yet you wanna do it again.

Track Listing
1. Sleep
2. 50 Years
3. Cold Flight
4. Face Down
5. Days of Fire
6. Sea of Tranquility
7. One More
8. Blue
9. .45
10. Crawl

Purchase Days of Fire, Trust and the Meatjack/Damad split at the Hellride Music Superstore

Download an MP3 of Sleep

Visit the Meatjack website at www.meatjack.com

Copyright 2002-2003 HellrideMusic.com
Review by Chris Barnes 8/22/03